Man Bitten by Attacker During Arctic Monkeys’ Lollapalooza Set

Ben Lenet, 29, allegedly suffered an unprompted biting attack by an unidentified assailant on Friday night during Arctic Monkeys’ set at Lollapalooza, The Chicago Sun-Times reports. Lenet initially posted an account of the attack to Reddit, while asking for help identifying his attacker.“The mood of the crowd is really happy and a nice departure from the normal drunken debauchery,” he wrote. “Suddenly, I turn around and some guy none of us have ever seen or spoken to, without warning, body slams my friend and begins using his hands to choke him.”

Lenet and his friends began to fight back, but when Lenet attempted to pull the attacker off, he was bitten on his right arm “for a good 5 seconds.” As he told the Sun-Times, “He’s not biting me. He’s clearly trying to bite through me.” Lenet posted photos of his arm injury here.

After taking 10-15 blows to the head, the attacker then walked away without being noticeably affected. According to the Chicago police, he may have been on bath salts or PCP. “I don’t know of a UFC fighter who could’ve taken that punishment and just walked away,” Lenet told the Sun-Times. Writing on Reddit, he also said, “No one stopped him because everyone was shocked by the hole in my arm and I don’t think anyone had much interest in trying to apprehend the dude who just took 10 punches and a punt to the face from three big dudes….and walked away.”

Lenet was then treated at the on-site medical tent. Because the bite broke the skin, he may have been exposed to hepatitis or HIV, and was subsequently placed on an anti-HIV cocktail. He did not return to the festival on Saturday or Sunday, and said it’s unlikely he’ll go in the future.

Lerner described his assailant as “between 5’7 and 5’11, dark skin (maybe Hispanic, but not black), 170-210 pounds.” The police said that no one is being held in custody in conjunction with the attack.